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RETURN : Native American Women Reclaim
Foodways for Health and Spirit

This documentary features remarkable Native American women taking charge, reclaiming their heritage to confront the rampaging diabetes epidemic and associated illnesses suffered by many Native Americans. RETURN will be released in May 2018 and is intended for PBS broadcast, film festivals, and the centerpiece of community events in Indian country.

RETURN has the power to transform lives. Through encouraging native people to eat as their ancestors did, reclaimed diets become a way of honoring one’s heritage and traditions. These lifestyle changes bring spiritual and physical health as well as pride in being indigenous to this land.

Refugees in their own land, Native Americans were herded onto reservations and fed sugar, fat, and bleached flour. Today, Indigenous adults are twice as likely as non-Hispanics to struggle with diabetes along with the associated maladies of heart disease and stroke. American Indian youth are four times as likely to suffer from diabetes. Often unaware of alternatives, many face challenging and shortened lives. Can this cycle be broken?

Native women across the continent are fighting to restore physical and spiritual health to their communities by reclaiming their dietary heritage. Our documentary film, RETURN, tells their story featuring Roxanne Swentzell, from Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico. Her example of growing and eating the same food her ancestors thrived on before Europeans invaded has been stunningly effective. We have documented parallel efforts to reclaim traditional ways in communities from Alaska to New York.

RETURN aims to turn the tide of this tragic diabetes epidemic in Native American communities and inspire all through the work of these remarkable women. With the release of RETURN in May 2018, you can be instrumental in making it happen. Your tax-deductible contribution will fund editing and distribution of this film.

The rescue of the Danish Jews in 1943. Produced with Camilla Kjærulff.

Singing Wolf Documentaries, Inc. was founded in 2000 to create productions of high aesthetic value with underlying moral dilemmas. The intent is to contribute to the debate of relevant issues and encourage compassion, tolerance, and civic engagement.